Best of KC 2023: Elizabeth Daniel’s throwback to the future

Elizabeth Daniel. // Photo by Pilsen Photo Co-op

This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. 

Tucked away in Tonganoxie, KS lives Elizabeth Daniel in what appears to be a house of wonders. Complete with a ‘sherage’ (like a garage, but with a twist) and a giant Lorax, you can find just about anything you need for an anachronistic photo montage… and then some. 

When The Pitch initially met Daniel, her home was in the midst of transformation for our June 2023 cover shoot. Need your backyard turned into a cookout ad straight from the ‘60s/’70s? Daniel is your best bet. While setting up for the shoot, it was as if she could read everyone’s mind. Daniel would pop in with an “I have one of those in my garage” before ever being asked, and sure enough, it would meet the exact vision. 

Since our June drag BBQ photoshoot, local director and producer Christopher Good (Kevin Morby, Joyce Manor, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) has been in touch with Daniel to help stage an upcoming film he’s been working on. 

While Daniel’s home is now Kansas City’s unofficial prop house, she has one main goal: to get people to thrift more. A firm believer that you can find anything secondhand, she wants to inspire others to do their own vintage shopping, find the things that would otherwise end up on the curb, and turn them into home decor treasures.